It’s 4.18 am on Tuesday 30th September and I’ve just lit the fire and made myself a cup of tea. ((Tea?? Tea?? Now I know this is going to be a weird blog. Hold onto your sanity people!)) 

Being awake at this time has often heralded ((Oh Peachy knows good words at this time of the morning!)) the pains of either hormonal distress or some kind of work related stress or worry over making this creative life/ boat life work financially. I’ve written about it many times over the eight years since I started this creative journey.

It’s not only the final throws of this autumnal cold I’m recovering from which has me up at this time as I peek out the window at the reflection of the church shimmering on the river in Abingdon on Thames, not for the first time I marvel at this amazing life we lead, which comes with it’s own challenges.

I’ve finally done it… ((What? Given up waffling? Hurrah!)) what is going to mark the start of a potentially long process. As many of you will know, for the last eight years I’ve been working on this psychological thriller series ((Oh we know!)) and I have ticked off the final edits and pressed send and emailed it to an agent to start the submission process all over again. For those who don’t know, a lot of publishers require you to have an agent before you can submit your book to them. This is not the case for all publishers. Some fabulous publishers have open submissions and you can submit direct but I suppose having an agent who believes in your work and can guide you through the process of navigating the book world is something I haven’t quite managed to let go of yet and so here we are at 4 am thinking about the future. Anyway it has left my inbox and into an agents, so time will tell. ((About time!))

I’m proud of all the books I’ve written in the last eight years and every single one has brought me to this stage. I’ve self-published five novels and two novella’s and joined The Bombay Circle Press who have published three of my novels and a few of my short stories back when they were creating their own story and started the Saga Fiction App and now they are growing all the time and finding their niche in the publishing world and going from strength to strength.  I’ve also added stories to four books with the Fosseway Writing Group so I feel I have a bit more experience.

In between all this I’ve had a very successful couple of meeting for some freelance work I’ve been approached about. It’s an extremely exciting role and the projects ahead have countless possibilities, which follows on from the work I’ve already achieved with my self-publishing but also my work with Newark Book Festival. I don’t think I’m ever going to escape the book world now and that’s exactly the way I want it. ((Come on then. Spill the beans!)) Sorry, not just yet. It’s very early days but I will share as soon as I can. ((Just wasting our time!))

So, I think it’s hardly surprising I find myself awake at this hour ((you’re lucky it’s gone past the witching hour else people would be making assumptions)) but it’s nice to be awake with exciting adventures ahead rather than hormonal stress. Of course, it’s not without a little background stress and at the moment life is on the cusp of ‘what could be’ but wouldn’t life be boring without ‘what if’s’ ((well you say that but at this present moment you cannot get back to Warwick due to low water!))

That’s true. Hopefully there is going to be a window of opportunity to return to Warwick at the end of October when they are planning to try and open the canals for boaters to return to where they need to be. As you know, I want to run some mentoring and writing workshop at Saltisford Arm where they have the most wonderful workshop space which is about ten cartwheels from our boat ((I would pay to see you do a cartwheel Peachy. Cold. Hard. Cash!)) and it would mean another income from the workshops.

Lost the Plot has been loitering in the best seller list for months now which after all the hard work is wonderful to see. I’ve also had some amazing reviews on Amazon and I’m thankful for each and every one. Last month was my most successful sales month on Amazon! ((Which Peachy used to replace her coffee machine which broke under all the stress. There is only one way she achieves all this you know!))

To sum up. By the time you read this my thriller will have been sent out into cyber space to hopefully find someone who loves it as much as me. It could take up to a year to secure the right agent so it could be a long process. I’ve started my freelance job which I will share in another post and other than my head exploding with the information I’m loving it. The planned news on if the canals will open won’t be until late October so we will be pootling about on the Thames until we know more and then it will be all hands to the deck to return home in the very small window of time they are proposing to let boats move. Grab hold of your windlass and cross your fingers ((Ehhh??)) let’s go on an adventure…

Click on the link if you want to have a sneak peak at my books… Read Here

Thank you to everyone for the support on this journey. We are getting there people. I can feel it in my bones! ((That’s Arthritis! You’re 50 woman… how many times do i need to tell you!))

Oh I almost forgot! ((Oh what now!)) I’ve republished my novella, A Christmas Wish with a new cover created on Canva as I don’t have the pennies to have a designer do this and it seemed a shame for it to be loitering around not doing anything. Many of you reading this might have already read it so please don’t buy it again! The story isn’t new, just the cover and it’s only available in Kindle format. Read here… A Christmas Wish